Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 7, should have been the day of the final vote on ending the registration and sale of combustion cars from 2035. Instead, the Swedish presidency of the EU Council had to take note of the opposition from some key countries and postpone the final vote on a process that began with the Commission's proposal on 14 July 2021 to a later date.
The block of no
Poland and Italy announced that they will vote against, something reaffirmed yesterday by the Minister of Enterprise, Adolfo Urso, while the Bulgaria he said he will abstain (abstention counts as a vote against). But it is obviously Germany that makes the front solid, the leading EU country, which needs to find a synthesis between often non-aligned positions in the Socialist-Green-Liberal governing alliance. After the Minister of Transport Volker Wissingliberal, was the same leader of the FDP, Christian Lindner, to explicitly say that their goal is that “cars with internal combustion engines can be registered in Germany after 2035,” reports the Hamburger Abendblatt. Without Italy, Poland, Germany and Bulgaria, only about 58% of the EU population is in favor, less than the 65% required by the qualified majority (the other condition, at least 15 Member States, is met, because there are 23 in Favor ).
What can happen
A reopening of the text, negotiated and agreed upon some time ago, is very difficult to imagine. Germany has indicated that it wants the Commission to move forward a proposal on the use of e-fuels, except biofuels: e-fuels, such as e-methane, e-kerosene and e-methanol, are fuels in gaseous or liquid form produced from renewable electricity (solar or wind energy, for example) or decarbonized. The Commission highlighted, through its spokespeople, the “newness” of the concerns that have arisen among Member States and said that it will now study the best way to proceed.
Policy
On a political level, it is quite clear that the victory of the center-right led by the Fdi in Italy, which is a large EU country, changes the balance in Brussels, although it is difficult to think that today's postponement is the prelude to a profound revision of the text. Now, however, the German liberals, fighting as junior partners in a left-wing coalition, have found a side in the Council in two countries governed by the ECR, the conservatives, that is Italy of Giorgia Meloni and Poland from Mateusz Morawiecki.
After all, perplexities about regulation, at least in Italy, are not exclusive to the right and center-right: the former president of the European Commission Romano Prodiwho knows the companies well, also recently explained why he believes it is wrong to focus on such an ambitious target, which risks paralyzing the automotive supply chain, especially in Italy, and accentuating Europe's dependence on raw materials and supplies outside the EU.
And even the Commissioner for the Economy Paulo Gentiloniwho, due to his personal history, is far from being insensitive to environmental issues (he directed Nuova Ecologia, the Legambiente magazine for 8 years) and is a great defender of the validity of the Green Deal, last night in Brussels, on the occasion of the presentation of Angela's latest book Mauro, noted, citing Giuliano Ferrara, that it is advisable to be cautious when touching “the house and the car”.
The Italian supply chain
The problem is, among other things, that the Italian automotive supply chain is, at least in part, tied to the internal combustion engine and an accelerated transition to all-electric is likely to have a significant impact, too. in terms of employment, especially in SMEs in Northern Italy. Today the Commission, when asked about the matter, gave a vague answer, without providing precise estimates of the jobs that would be lost (industry associations have estimated losses of around 500,000 jobs at EU level).